The Nature of Autobiography

Throughout Dear Friend, Yiyun Li questions the nature of effectiveness of autobiography by asking why one chooses to write about themselves and their life. This theme is first introduced in Chapter Two when Li travels to Ireland: the site of autobiographical writer John McGahern's life and work. The nature of autobiography is explored through this idea of place when Li writes that "to see the setting of an autobiographical author is to hold fleetingly another person's reality" (26). This quote suggests that connecting an autobiographical story to a real life experience is one way of bridging the gaps between lives and entering into the world and experience of another person. However, this experience prompts Li to question the very nature of this type of writing.

In the next paragraph, Li firmly declares that she is not an autobiographical writer and cannot be one because she does...